OH NO!! Man involved in beauty pageant riot warned he could face jail

A MAN involved in a riot in which a gang of young men wielded golf clubs, machetes and baseball bats at a Sudanese beauty pageant after party was warned by a magistrate today he could face jail.

Magistrate Charles Rozencwajg said the community was fed up of violence by groups of young men and the courts needed to indicate it would not be tolerated.

“This type of behaviour is too prevalent,” Mr Rozencwajg said.

James Makur, 21, admitted three serious charges arising out of the brawl at Braybrook in which two men were seriously assaulted when the gang set upon them as they tried to leave the after party.

Prosecutor John Livitsanos told Melbourne Magistrates' Court that the party was being held in a community hall in April last year and was attended by around 200 people.

Mr Livitsanos said one of the victims, Nhial Yoa, became involved in a verbal argument with one of the gang over the entrance fee and later Mr Yoa noticed the man and Makur looking at him aggressively.

Mr Yoa and his friend, Anyang Lual, decided to leave the party early to avoid trouble but while they were walking to their car they were confronted by Makur, two co-accused and around seven unknown African males.

Mr Livitsanos said the gang was armed with an array of weapons and Makur approached Mr Lual and punched him and then smashed a beer bottle over his head.

Other men joined in the attack and Mr Lual felt swords strike his legs and when Mr Yao stepped in to help one of Makur's co-accused hit him a number of times with a machete.

Mr Livitsanos said Mr Lual ran to their car and gang surrounded the vehicle. Makur was seen hitting it with a baseball bat and another man struck it with a machete.

The wild brawl was only brought under control when police arrived and the gang members ran off.

Mr Livitsanos said as a result of the gang attack Mr Yao received a fractured elbow and severed tendons in his arms and knee and Mr Lual received a cut to his head .

Defence lawyer David Gibson said it was a “very, very serious incident” but he urged the magistrate to sentence Makur to a community corrections order instead of a jail term.

Mr Gibson told the court Makur came to Australia as a refugee in 2005 and suffered severe teasing at school because of his low intellectual ability and his height.

As a result he described his time in a Kenyan refugee camp as "the happiest days of my life''.

Mr Rozencwajg called for a further report and indicated he may sentence Makur later today.

Two co-accused of Makur have yet to have their charges finalised.

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POLICE have discovered pictures of Osama bin Laden at a Gold Coast home linked to a worrying new bikie gang called Soldiers of Islam, whose members include former Iraqi soldiers.

Photos of the fugitive al-Qaeda leader were found recently at the home of a gang member during a criminal investigation.

Soldiers of Islam, also known as Sons of Islam, is believed to be an offshoot of outlaw bikie gang the Bandidos, which has a clubhouse at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast.

Sources say the gang, comprising young Muslim men who sport "SOI'' tattoos, has sprung up on the Glitter Strip relatively recently.

While only small in membership, the gang is coming under increasing attention from police investigating bikie links to crimes involving drugs, guns and violence.

"They are relatively new on the Gold Coast scene but seem to be involving themselves in some scary things,'' a source said.

"They are associated with the Bandidos. Some of the members are ex-Iraqi soldiers with weapons training, so it's quite a worry.''

The Courier-Mail understands that apart from the Bin Laden photos, police did not find any terrorism-related material at the Soldiers of Islam member's house.

Middle Eastern gangs, while active in Sydney, have only recently been making their presence felt in Queensland and particularly on the Gold Coast.

Police have identified bikies from Sydney as being involved in the drive-by shooting murder of Gold Coast father-of-two Omega Ruston outside McDonald's at Burleigh Heads on Australia Day 2008. The case remains unsolved.

One of the Coast's most notorious bikies is Lebanese-born Yassar Bakir, who joined the high-profile Finks gang several years ago.

Bakir was last month convicted of importing GBL, a chemical used to make the powerful drug "fantasy'', and was jailed for six years.

The trial heard Bakir used violence and threats to force another man to import the drug into Australia from China.

Bakir was also charged with the attempted murder of a former professional rugby player, cage fighter and Japanese Yakuza bodyguard, who was pumped with bullets on the Southport Spit in 2006.

However, the charges were dropped after the victim failed to show up to court to testify.

Another Finks bikie of Middle Eastern descent, Richard Savage, received a suspended sentence in 2007 after admitting to a violent rampage at Gold Coast Hospital because of delays in his wife getting haemorrhoid surgery.

The court heard Savage told terrified nurses he was "the king of the Gold Coast'' and threatened to get 30 Finks to "trash the hospital until his wife was operated on''.

Sounds like Oz is getting to be a target rich environment. A friend of mine tells me Canada is experiencing similar things. I know it's coming here eventually, and probably sooner than we think if Obama and these little dictator city mayors succeed in further infringing on our right to defend ourselves.